Boys Semi Final: Handsworth vs. Collingwood

Written by Devin Delany, Handsworth Grad 2006

‘Royals have their feast’

The intensity came early and often in this North Shore battle between the home Royals and visiting Cav’s as they both looked for a birth into the No Regrets final game. With two very deep benches both coaches were keeping their team’s fresh by continually mixing in different personnel to ensure the intensity didn’t waver.

Royals small forward Nate Watters seemed to be providing the spark for the Royals on both sides of the ball as he pushed the offense and led the team on their defensive high court press. The Cavs did their best to keep it competitive but they simply were 1 step behind on every loose ball and rebound.

At halftime, the Royals led 41-24.

The Royals came out loud and proud in the second half with their entire bench passionately cheering on their fellow Royals. Surprisingly it was their coach Cam Mowat who was extremely quiet, leading many to believe he may have been feeling the effects of a big Friday night out.

The Royals kept looking to attack the low post in the second half targeting their star power forward Ben Grant who looked like he was a man among boys in the paint. He would find the blue paint on every offensive set and look to simply overpower the D going up for what looked like easy buckets. The Cav’s were having a difficult time penetrating the Royals’ athletic defense and it certainly was evident on the scoresheet as they only put up a shocking 4 points in the quarter. Even coach Andy Wong was left looking for answers as he was visibly unhappy with how his team had been performing.

With a finals’ appearance looking imminent later on tonight, coach Mowat rested his starting lineup and looked to his reserves to continue the Royal momentum that had silenced the Cavalier faithful. The young Royal reserves didn’t look out of out of place at all as they continued to press high and took full advantage of their opportunities.

At the final buzzer, the Royals had won 84-36 and earned themselves a birth in the Saturday final against Kits Blue Demons.

See you tonight which features Kits and Handsworth shaping up to be a ‘No Regrets’ classic.